How far does the apple fall from the tree? The size of English bank branch networks in the nineteenth century
本文利用新数据集，绘制了1833年《银行特许法案》后英国银行分支网络的增长、规模及地理分布，发现银行积极扩张但多数在1880年前仍以地方和区域结构为主，而非全国性网络。
After the Bank Charter Act in 1833, English banks could branch nationally without legal or geographical restriction. It has been previously thought that despite this freedom, early English joint-stock banks predominantly began as single units. Drawing upon a new data set, this article maps the growth of branch banking, the size of bank networks and their geographical location and spread. It demonstrates that banks pursued branching strategies energetically against the intentions of regulators and were successful in forming large and complex networks. However, ultimately, before 1880 the majority settled for local, district and multi-regional structures, as opposed to national structures.